I'm still on the fence about this song. Wily 1 was one of my favorite game themes ever, Mega Man 2 also being one of my favorite games, i was drawn to this song. After reading through the lyric translation, i understand that its a sweet story with a lot to relate to, but it never mentions Rockman or Mega Man at all, but Ultraman. Spoons on his eyes, his arms in the shape of an L? That's not Mega Man. I felt betrayed. How could they use the Mega Man anthem to sing about memories lost from a childhood playing games of Ultraman Seven?
I’m planning on getting a kagepro tattoo considering how much this series has changed and even saved my life and this just reinforces it now all I have left is to figure out what to get to represent this series or just figure out how to get everyone on me lol
I came into this video expecting a brief overview of what makes his writing unique yet incredible and instead got to see someone appreciating one of my favorite Nasuverse characters. You love to see it
I really liked this interpretation. I enjoy Niki's songs, but more than anything else, I am a # COMPASS fan. I clicked to see your analysis of Grave and maybe give my own thoughts. I was not disappointed! For some background, the character in Grave’s MV is named Gustav Heydrich. Due to the experiments forced on him as a child and continued as an adult, Gustav is extremely suicidal and wishes to destroy the world. Gustav is very likely meant to be a Nazi. That is an unavoidable part of his character. He is bitter, angry, and completely filled with hate. Gustav only wants to see everyone suffer as he did. I won't get into it in my analysis, but know that the man at the end of Grave is Gustav's closest ally and a 1940's Japanese emperor. Gustav is also extremely suicidal. His lack of agency and how it relates to his pessimistic view of life is a major part of his character. As a chronically disabled person myself, I think Gustav's disability is extremely interesting to think about. Although Gustav is not the only disabled character in # COMPASS, he is by far the only one where it is a crucial part of understanding his character. You can watch Parallel Layer or DIMENSION without knowing that those characters are disabled, but you cannot watch Grave without immediately understanding that Gustav is very, very ill. He constantly needs poison flowing through his veins and will die without it, but the poison is killing him. He is constantly rotting from the inside out. He claws at his mask and chokes on his own breath. Now, while knowing that Gustav is both disabled and a Nazi, what do you think he thinks of himself? He thinks of himself as weak. He sees his own body as a moral failing. He yells "death to the weak" and "kill me now" in battle, and those two phrases mean the same to him. I also thought it was interesting that you described adult Gustav as a "fictionalized version of himself in combat". Although his adult self is the version in the game, I really like that interpretation. It makes sense that a small child in a lot of pain would imagine himself as a mighty warrior overcoming the impossible. It's pretty obscure lore, even for # COMPASS, but Tadaomi seems to see Gustav as a child. Gustav is described as "still a small boy" while being a 6'2" hulking man. I don't really have much commentary for that part, but I still think it's relevant to Grave. I see Grave as being sung by Gustav's adult self, thinking of the trauma he experienced as a child and how it eventually led him to victory. If he had never been given his "Gift" ("Poison" in German) and gone through that pain, Gustav would have never ended up on top. Like you said, although he went through that pain, he still has some desire to live... even if it's buried too deep for him to realize. As a side note to another commenter: while Grave was composed for a separate purpose from Error, that doesn't render the similarities between them invalid. Another character theme from # COMPASS, Tenkomori's Crazy Beat, references many of their past songs while making them relevant to the character. Kairiki Bear's Alkali Rettousei gave a whole new meaning to Lyrica's character that would not have existed without the song. syudou's Kodoku Dokudoku shows that, while Rinne acts cocky, he is a deeply lonely man. I think it's great to analyze theme songs from the perspective of someone who doesn't know the characters.
This might be 3 years old but I will never stop waiting for more of this to drop fr because it’s soo fucking cool The delivery of everything is such a banger
I used to sporadically scream this full blast down ventrillo/teamspeak/mumble to my online family. They actually listened, laughing their asses off usually. (though sometimes they rightfully told me to stfu with it) I was just in my room with the window open being a complete twat for all the neighbourhood to hear. I've been bullied plenty too, so I know some people will think "sounds like an autist faggot lel nofriends kys ma man", but to me, I enjoyed it. It was a perfect excuse of a song to let yourself go. And my friends made me feel free enough to express myself this way. There's a joy in being aware of your absolute sillyness, about knowing you're being a fool and not caring. It's almost like being a child again.
As much as we talk about communities and the indie creator, it's amazing how quickly those communities kick those creators to the curb as soon as corporations get involved and start pumping out content. Soon what started out creative friendly spaces turn into some of the most anti-independent sites around where you're lucky if you can even make a ripple let alone even get into the pool. Another thing that lead to the downfall of vocaloid was it's inaccessibility to newbies. For a software that should have been a boon to independent song writers, it was damn hard to master because there was no where you could go to systematically learn to use it. Not even a Udemy beginner course, and now all those potential users are moving to AI.
The part where you said Ichigo wants to be like his mother really hit me😢 I never thought of that but it seems so obvious that I don't understand how I missed it. Bravo my friend bravo 👏👏👏👍👍👍
ngl this video made me SOB!!! I loved the anime when it came out and I constantly sing it's praises. I have the first manga (made after Mekakucity Actors released I believe), but never read the original novels. The soundtracks are amazing, the anime is great, but now I understand the full depth of the story! This narrative is so heartbreaking and beautiful. It reminds me of the plot of Kingdom Hearts Union X. Thank you for putting so much work into this and sharing the beauty of this narrative! It is so much more accessible and I want to share it with everyone I know ❤❤❤❤❤
while that era of "vocaloids as characters" is most certainly dead (along with the nnd culture that influenced it at the time), vocaloid (and vocal synth as whole) fandom is most certainly not. there are still active producers, both jp and en, making great songs, ranging from the inexperienced to the professional. there is more of a focus on the music/production and vocal synth as a instrument, which is healthier overall for the indie genre, allowing it to flourish and be accepted into the mainstream. but i share the same sense of nostalgia as you do when i was able to remember every vocaloid's name and their widely accepted fandom personality. even vocaloid as a software has been left in the dust by CeVio and Synth V bc of yamaha's mismanagement. only crypton has been really successful at marketing vocaloids as "virtual idols" (in the sense that you could attend concerts and buy merch) as a result of the "vocaloid as characters" era. nevertheless, i would say that the current era is still enjoyable with the wider range of vocals available and that it's only natural for the fandom to have evolved over the years.
Amazing video, really helped me to understand the whole story. I just watched the anime and had to dig deeper because I felt like something is missing. But I have a question about Shintaro. So he remembered things because he saw the photograph and proceeded to kill himself with scissors to start his plan. He killed himself with scissors before as well. But didn't he also get killed by a gun in Lost Time Memory? Where in the timeline is this placed? Also it looks like he unlocked his eye powers then, after he got killed by headshot and got transported in Daze, but idk. Anyways I will stick with your explanation because it makes sense lmao, just curious because Shintaro is unexplored as a character in the anime.
The gunshot in Lost Time Memory only happens then and not anywhere else. In that timeline, Haruka was trying to kill himself to stop the clearing eyes from taking over and Shintaro stopped him. Shintaro meets with Ayano in different timelines, I just highlighted the most important ones.
Insane story both quite depressing, bcs what had happened, but even more satisfying when they finally achieve peace and move on (perfect ending), but there were some casualties. The moral of the story is relevant to this age when young people like me are most of time alone and strive to find a meaning in life or a way of life and that is the most confusing thing in my life rn, bcs i feel i should know the answer already, but im just not sure and im 19 already. I wish I could have empathic friends like this to escape to and atleast not be so alone, but it's not easy for me to find friends that would understand and helped me to finally move on, but i'll keep trying to become better and better myself and not end up like shintaro in the route where he killed Ene (tho he had a huge depression that even Ene couldn't overcome)
There is a right answer. Eudemonia in agape in union with ipsum esse subsistens. Caritas, caritas, caritas. Misericordia et humilitas. Gazing upon the Passio of the Incarnate Son of God. Knowing Love has conquered death and all the evils of this world and all suffering shall end in the proper season. But we are in the time of tempering, and are not yet set forever as we will be forever. So we can choose, the Way of Life or the Way of Death. The Prince of Life defeated suffering and death by He being Divine Love, entering into them and changing them so that they can be if we accept and walk the Way of the Cross, life eternal in eudemonia by agape. That is to say, do not live for yourself, but for love, the good of another as other.
I love this. I share a similar love for Ayano, feeling that she is by far one of the greatest characters in fiction and she by far stands to be my favorite. I am so happy people like you exist who share this admiration and care for the kagerou project. I've seldom ran into people who have even heard of kagepro, but seeing people embrace the bits and properly put to words some of the incredible feelings the series has given me is such an incredible experience. Thank you, breadbox.
Playing "Hope" from Umineko in the background of the analysis fits so well. What is said about this song is also thematically found in Battler, Sayu, and Ange's individual struggles with loss of family and loss of a love.
